A-Jay's 4th Annual Ice Out / Open Water Countdown Thread ~

[Jigfishn10]

It was 15* this morning when I left at 6:30. Mid-60*'s and rain by Sunday. Matter of fact, rain Monday & Tuesday. May have to fish an ice-out on Wednesday.  

Overnight lows for the next 10 days will be upper 20*'s and 30*'s. Definitely will take that.

[casts_by_fly]

we are now largely ice free.  Main lakes and big lakes are pretty clear.  Back coves and smaller lakes have some ice, but not fishable ice.  Some skim formed last night, but we're hitting upper 60's with rain this weekend and its not going below freezing in the forecast starting tomorrow.  I might even get out Sunday!  can't complain much about that.

[T-Billy]

Countdown ended at 09:47. Ended with a skunking, but it ended none the less. Water was high, brown, and 36.5 - 40, still some ice on parts of the lake. About as tough as it gets. Was nice to get out and take the boat for a spin, after working on it nearly every day off for the past month and a half. It's not done, but it's close. Will probably finish it up Sunday. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. Suits me and the waters I fish well. 

[slonezp]

Upper 60s tomorrow and snow on Monday 

[A-Jay]

Fixing to  be a little bit of everything this weekend in northern Michigan -- ice, rain, wind, power outages, localized flooding . . . . Good Times

 

A-Jay

[DitchPanda]

Ice was about 1\3rd out on my local ponds yesterday...of course they are calling for thunderstorms and rain today switching to snow then next week cold.

[MN Fisher]

Of course we need a 'dip' at some point in March, otherwise it wouldn't be Minnesota. Most of the week, the highs are going to be upper 20s to upper 30s - but there's always that one day....

 

[Way north bass guy]

Took a ride on the snowmobiles today, and down in the river behind the house we saw some geese in the open water. Still a long ways away from launching a boat, but it’s a sure sign of warmer times when we start seeing them around again. 

[FishinBuck07]

On 3/4/2022 at 5:45 PM, T-Billy said:

Countdown ended at 09:47. Ended with a skunking, but it ended none the less. Water was high, brown, and 36.5 - 40, still some ice on parts of the lake. About as tough as it gets. Was nice to get out and take the boat for a spin, after working on it nearly every day off for the past month and a half. It's not done, but it's close. Will probably finish it up Sunday. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. Suits me and the waters I fish well. 

Tappan?

[TnRiver46]

On 3/4/2022 at 5:45 PM, T-Billy said:

Countdown ended at 09:47. Ended with a skunking, but it ended none the less. Water was high, brown, and 36.5 - 40, still some ice on parts of the lake. About as tough as it gets. Was nice to get out and take the boat for a spin, after working on it nearly every day off for the past month and a half. It's not done, but it's close. Will probably finish it up Sunday. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. Suits me and the waters I fish well. 

That’s the biggest water ive ever seen in Ohio not named Lake Erie. Glad you got out 

[T-Billy]

7 hours ago, FishinBuck07 said:

Tappan?

Atwood

[T-Billy]

5 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

That’s the biggest water ive ever seen in Ohio not named Lake Erie. Glad you got out 

Thanks. This is Atwood. 1540 acres, 15 minutes from my house. I live within 40min of 5 of the Muskingum Watershed lakes.  The Tuscarwaws River also runs through my town. It's chock full of smallies and saugeye. One of the best parts of OH for fishing IMO.

[slonezp]

It ended up hitting 70 yesterday. High winds all day and possibly a micro burst last night. Took out my pellet grill, flat top, and a 25' branch off a 50' tree in the common area behind my townhouse. The pic of the grill devastation is too large to post. Snow tomorrow and highs in the 40's lows in the 20's the rest of the week.

 

[MN Fisher]

And we got 4" of snow dumped on us overnight.

[Deephaven]

2 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

And we got 4" of snow dumped on us overnight.

8" in my yard.  Was fun, took the boys out on the lake with the snoscoot and my wheeler pulling a sled.  Nice to have some fresh snow.

[MIbassyaker]

A little over 4 months since I made a cast into open water.  In some years, I'm able to do that again by the first week of March, so Saturday I made a recon trip to three of the smaller, faster-warming lakes near me. 

 

Alas, not quite yet:

 

[A-Jay]

37 minutes ago, MIbassyaker said:

A little over 4 months since I made a cast into open water.  In some years, I'm able to do that again by the first week of March, so Saturday I made a recon trip to three of the smaller, faster-warming lakes near me. 

 

Alas, not quite yet:

 

I know that feeling well.

But I think water on the ice is a good thing.

Might not be much longer . . .

Good Luck

A-Jay

[12poundbass]

After the warm day yesterday (65) and rain last night mud season is here. In my travels today I saw a few four wheelers on the local lakes today so there’s still a ton of ice. Back to the 30’s today and this coming week. 

[A-Jay]

8 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

After the warm day yesterday (65) and rain last night mud season is here. In my travels today I saw a few four wheelers on the local lakes today so there’s still a ton of ice. Back to the 30’s today and this coming week. 

We had rain for a while over night and into today.

Lost maybe 25% of the snow on the ground.

 But we're getting a small pile of snow in the morning.

A-Jay

[12poundbass]

14 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

We had rain for a while over night and into today.

Lost maybe 25% of the snow on the ground.

 But we're getting a small pile of snow in the morning.

A-Jay

Our snow is completely gone now except for the snow banks. Snow flurries tomorrow.

[A-Jay]

6 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

Our snow is completely gone now except for the snow banks. Snow flurries tomorrow.

Not here ~ 

A-Jay

[FishinBuck07]

17 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Not here ~ 

A-Jay

Beautiful dog!

[A-Jay]

3 minutes ago, FishinBuck07 said:

Beautiful dog!

Thank You 

Tanks quite a pup ~

A-Jay

[A-Jay]

Zero degrees here as I post this morning with snow returning to northern Michigan this afternoon and last into Saturday.  Expecting Gusty winds spawning blowing and drifting snow at times, creating hazardous travel conditions into Saturday morning for some areas.

And here I am thinking about open water.

I must be outside of my own mind . . . .

 

Either way, it's fish catch Friday ~ 

Going back to my first season fishing the pre-spawn on Lake Menderchuck West.

I had A Day

 

3 Weeks 5 Days & a Wake up.

A-Jay

[gim]

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

Zero degrees here

Its cold here too, at least for mid March.  Tomorrow morning is supposed to be around zero degrees, but the good news is that this is our last blast of winter here.  There is nothing but warmth in the 10 day forecast beyond tomorrow.